Kara Clark's Fix...

Kara has a great idea. It just took her some figuring before she found it. These first two photos have potential. Potential doesn't 'make' a great photo but it's a super start. With background clutter and hard to read words, you know the picture isn't quite right. Kara did something RIGHT. She kept SHOOTING!

She explored ALL angles until she found one that work and created a better all round photo in the last one.

This one has no background distractions, just the simple message with the hand that wrote it.

Great job, Kara.

Great class today. You all are really creative. Get those amazing shots I saw going on to me ASAP!

Keep snapping.

Mrs. B.

Things to Avoid in Composition

The last post was 'Things to Focus On'. This week we will look at 'Things to Avoid' compliments of

the link to this article. This article has 3 common mistakes with 3 easy fixes for each. It's a quick read

so enjoy.

These are poppies by the side of the 2nd round- about over the side.

To get rid of the guard rail in the picture I got really low to the ground,

focused on one big poppy and tilted upward to get sky. Once in 

awhile I'd get a car. It lets you know I really was at the 'bout.

Waiting for those pictures of the week! Got a couple but hoping for more.

Get them in by Friday.

Keep snapping.

Things to Focus On

As you set out on your day I hope that some of you are viewing the world
in a different way. Are you looking at things with 'new eyes'? Do you say,
"That could be a cool picture." Or as you are taking pictures are you beginning
to take from new view points that you hadn't thought of before?

One thing I've found myself looking at differently are music videos. Try it.
Watch them as a photographer. They are awesome. Every angle, every shot,
all the lighting, the zooms, the composition, how they position people in the
foreground and background, cars, building, animals, black and white, bleached,
old-fashioned, you name it, they have it all. Any emotion they emote it. Sure
the music has a lot to do with it but put it on mute. Do you see the story?
Can you still tell there's feelings and emotions of some kind? Usually absolutely.
The old adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words," comes into play here.
The worth to you can be a photography lesson. So go listen to MTV or VH1.
Study the photography and then go practice what you learned. Mimic it.
Mimicry is the highest form of flattery and a great way to learn. Just make sure
you aren't out right copying.

Things to Focus On


1. Move In: Get close to your subject


2. Be Quick: Have your camera with you and ready! It does no good at the bottom
                      of your backpack. Make sure it is accessible and you can turn it on 
                      quickly.


3. Compose: cut out the unwanted, watch your backgrounds for clutter. You don't
                      want light poles growing out of heads, tree branches coming out of
                      ears and garbage cans decorating your backgrounds.
               
4. Focus on your subject: make sure your subject is sharp. If it's a face focus on 
                    the eyes.


5. Light: best times of day are early morning and evening, the twilight hours. Be sure
                to use a tripod in low light conditions, the self timer or cable release to prevent
                camera shudder or a stable rock, railing, chair etc. to place your camera on.
               Gorrilla pods are great for your point and shoots. AND just because it is noon
               don't let that stop you. Add a polarizer filter or with the point and shoots
               try holding different sunglasses in front of the lens. The effects can be really
               neat, at twilight times too.


6. Whether or NOT there's weather: If there has been rain, like lately, clouds add
                depth, texture and drama to photos. In Arizona so often we have that plain
                old blue sky, so take advantage of the cloudy days and lovely sunsets. TIP:
                Wait longer after the sun goes down. Usually the best part of the set comes
                 in the glow later but you'll need that pod or stable 'something'.


7. Keep it Simple: from your picture to travel, best motto: LESS IS MORE
               Make sure your intended subject is the focus. The less distractions from it the
               better. 


               I tend to do the same with my camera bag. I don't even really carry one unless
               of course I'm traveling or hiking. For games, around town etc, I have my 
               camera out and ready, extra cards in a pocket or purse, if it's multiple games, I
               will have an extra battery and sometime my flash and another lens I'll keep in 
               the car or my purse. I hate hauling around a bunch of 'stuff' and I usually never
               need it.  The biggest thing is to make sure you have your cards and batteries.
               It's always good to fire a couple of test shots before you leave the house (with 
               both batteries). One, you will know they are both charged, two, you will know
               if you have a  least one card in your camera. Believe me it's not fun getting 
               somewhere and you forgot your card, like State Softball Playoffs of all places!
               I walked around until I found a pro with a Canon and asked if I could buy a 
               card off him. He sold me his old used up card for $60, reprimanded me for 
               something I already new (bring extra cards) and he laughed all the way to the
               bank, I'm sure.  So the motto for me: the less I have to keep track of the better
               and check and recheck before I leave the house.


8. BE BOLD! The most intimidating of all but has the biggest and best results. Get
               yourself out there. So what if you are down on the floor, crawling in the hall, or
               in some other compromised position, if you get a great and awesome shot it's all
               worth it. Be Fearless. People who act in spite of their fear are the brave ones.

Keep snapping and emailing your photos. Take your cameras to the pep assembly!! Good photo op... maybe even for the paper!!!

THE Most Active Photo of the Week yet GOES TO:

No. 10 taken by Kellsi Olsen with Grace Echeverria's CELL PHONE!! 
Clever work ladies and thank you for submitting. This was a tight race. Not far behind and in a tie for
second place was no. 9 and no. 2 taken by Linsey Shumway and Lily Grote respectively. It goes
to show you, when it comes to picture popularity, faces emoting emotion, animals and joyous little kids
reach out to people more than anything else.

Just a note to you voters: What to look for...

Good Composition... does it follow the Rule of Thirds that we have learned about in earlier posts?
Are they applying elements of design?
Is the picture crisp, or sharp, in focus? You can double click on the picture to enlarge it. That helps you
         to see if it is in focus and see other details.
How's the exposure?
Does the picture tell a story or evoke emotion?

Those are just a few things to keep in mind as you look at the photos. Thanks for taking the time to do so
and keep coming back.

Photo of the Week: February 25

Wow! Great group. Ten. Largest group yet. Yahoo.

Once again, place your vote by leaving a comment as to which number you 

prefer and why. Good luck!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

To All Followers....

Please feel free to enter a picture or two in the 'Photo of the Week'. Get them in
by Wednesday afternoon by emailing me: blakeleyfarm@mac.com. Vote by picking the
picture you like best, take the number by it and write a post.  For example: I like #5
because of the color, compostion and subject... or for whatever reason.  Thanks for joining
in!!

February 18th: apertures, sunlighting

We have talked a lot about the basic mode zones and what you can do with aperture priority and and shutter priority. The article that I am linking you to is to help you get out of those zones. Why? So that
you can start looking at the more creative aspects of photography. "How to bypass the Portrait Mode"
Be sure to visit all the links this article has.

Next, let's look at our class this past week.

Facing the sun, okay it sure "brightens" the face. It down right washes it out, makes you squint,

cover your eyes, close your eyes, look down, peek through your bangs, all kinds of 'attractive'

features.....NOT.  While the background isn't bad you still see the cars, the overhang and other

small distractions. So what did we do? We not only changed the direction of the sun, we change

the angle from which I was shooting.

Shooting down takes away the distractions. The background is plain the focus is on the subjects,

you. Putting the sun to your backs allows you to open your eyes, there are no harsh shadows 

across your faces, nor are they dark from shadow. I metered on your faces. In other words I 

exposed or used the exposure setting best for your faces. It meant the background would be a

bit washed out, but that's okay since you are my subjects. If I had a fill flash I could have used 

that to lighten your faces and keep the background if it were important. The other thing the sun

does is create nice highlights in your hair that frames each face. An angelic look. 

My depth of field or f-stop was probably not big enough if I wanted you all focus. I think I had it 

near f8. I should have gone higher to f16 to get everyone focus. A smaller opening to let in

less light would have created that. If I had used f2.8 (a large opening) probably just Sarilda,

Kinzie and Lily would be in focus and everyone else would gradually get more and more out

of focus.

Here, one subject is in focus and others are slightly out of focus. The sun is behind, 

colors pop and you still see smiley faces and highlighted hair.

Your Assignment: pick a subject and blur the background. Get them in ASAP

PLEASE remember to put 'WHS Photography Class' in your subject of your email. 

If you don't it gets lost in my email and I have no way of finding it again. Also please 

don't give me links to photobucket or other sites. Just sent your jpeg.